Electrical connecter



Sept. 13, 1927.

J. B. TELFORD 'ELECTRICAL CONNEGTER Filed Aug. 25, 1926 54 ,UCI'B INVENTOR,

ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JASPER BENNETT TELFORD, F PECKVILLE; PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF FORTY ONE-HUNDREDTHS TQ HENRY HARBOTTLE, OF SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

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Applicationjled August 25, 1926. Serial No. 131,400.

or those composed of a plurality ofseparate strands, whether parallel or twisted together and to form a perfect contact therewith for conducting electric current, the device, in the latter case, serving to group or gather'the strands together and to tightly compress or clamp the same in the desired manner, to retain their normal shape and size and without damaging the same.

A final object is to provide a connecterhaving an adjustable clamping member which may not become detached from the body of the connecter but which may be readily moved to freely admit the ends of the wire or wires and hold the same against separating, the said device being adapted to be used with equal advantage for connecting two wires or groups of wires or in various other applications, such as switch terminals, rheostat terminals, controller finger bases, bus bar connecters and in numerous other connections.

A full and complete understanding of the invention may be obtained from a consideration of the following gdetailed description taken in connection with the'accompanyin drawing forming a part of this specification, it being understood that while the drawing shows a practical form of the invention, the latter is not to be confined tov strictconformity with the showing thereof, but may be changed or modified, so long as such changes or modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention, as specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing, in which similar reference characters design ate corresponding parts throughout the several figures Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved connecter in use for connecting the 7 ends of two stranded wires.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section through the same. 7

Figure 3 is a transverse section thereof.

Figure 4 is a detail perspective View of the clamping element forming part of the invention.

Figure 5 is a longitudinal section showing the invention used as a terminal connecter.

Figure 6 is a plan view of the subject matter of Figure 5.

, Figure 7 is an elevation showing the improvement applied to a 'rheostat or resistance connection. v

Figure 8 is a similar view, partly broken away, showing the device applied to a switch terminal.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown in Figures 1 to 4 inclusive, a connecter constructed in accordance with the present invention and comprising a tubular barrel or body member 1 formed of some suitable conducting metal, preferably brass, the same being of oval or elliptical shape in cross section, as shown in Figure 3, the exterior oval shape being designed to shed water, etc. when used out of doors and the interior oval shape to permit of certain adjustability of clamping meansto be described and for thepurpose of permitting the introduction of wires or groups of wire strands of different sizes.

The length of the ,body member 1, having the bore 01 passageway 2 therein, is sufficient to receive the end portions of two opposed electric wires 3 which it is desired to connect together, and said wires may be of the twisted strand form, as shown, or a single wire of equal or smaller diameter than the width,of the bore or passageway, it being, of course, necessary to remove a portion of the usual insulation 1, in either event.

Loosely mounted within the oval bore or passageway 2 and adapted to freely move up and down or lengthwise of the major axis thereof, is a clamp plate or member 5 which is, preferably, substantally equal in length to the length of the barrel or body member and which is slightly less in width than the width of said bore taken across the narrow or minor axis thereof. The upper face of the'clamp plate 5 is convex to accord with the upper, rounded side of thebore, and is provided with a centrally located, upstanding pin 6 which is reduced at its lower end, as at 7,

and threaded forv connection to said plate,

. though the same may be secured in any other member, the length of said pin being such as to prevent dislodgment of the plate even though no wire or wires are engaged therein.

The lower face 8 of the clamp plate is C0111 cave, the curvature of the same, preferably, agreeing with the curvature of the semi-circular bottom wall of the bore or passageway and when the maximum size wire or group of wires are being clamped, the two coacting surfaces form a substantially complete circle, as clearly shown in Figure 3.

In order to force the plate down into clamping action upon the wire or wires, a

- plurality of set screws 9 are employed, there being preferably four in this form of the invention, with a pair of the same arranged at either side of the central pin 6 so as to give a uniform pressure throughout the length of the clamping plate, though more or less screws may be employed where desired.

In the terminal connecter shown in Figures 5 and 6 there is provided a tubular socket member 10 which is also of oval shape in cross section and having a corresponding bore 11 to permit of the aforesaid up an down movement of the clamping element. Extending from the closed end of the socket is the usual attaching and conducting plate 12-having an aperture 13 for the securing means (not shown).' The clamping plate 14 is of the same cross-sectional shape as the aforesaid plate 5 and extends the full length of the bore in the socket but, in this form of the invention, the guiding and retaining pin 15 which is secured to the plate 14:, is located adjacent to the inner or rear end of said plate and traverses an appropriately located aperture 15 in the upper wall of the socket, while the clamping or set screw 16 traverses a threaded aperture-near the front or open end of the socket and bearsdownwardly upon the plate at that point, so as to tightly compress the strands 17 or other wire.

In Figure 7 there is shown a rheostat or resistance connection in which the cable or wire 18 is held in a tubular body member 19 of oval shape in cross section, said body member having the usual laterally projecting extensions 19 formed integrally therewith and 'adapted to be secured in conducting relation to the rheostat, etc. in the usual manner. A clamp plate 20, shown in dotted lines in said figure, is of the same formation as the members 5 and 14, and is adapted to be clamped down upon the wire or wires 18 by set screws 21 located adjacent to the ends of the body member and a central guiding and retaining pin 22 is employed, as before, to

reeaeae hold the plate in the bore and to permit same to be adjusted upwardly and downwardly, as desired.

The adaptation of the invention to a knife switch is illustrated in Figure 8 of the drawing, in which 23 indicates the wire or strands of wire entering a socket 24: formed in a base member 2 and held therein by a clamp late 25 (shown in dotted lines), the latter .eing under the pressure of spaced set screws 26 and between which the guiding and retaining pin 27 is located. Resilient, spaced contact members 28 are adapted to receive the usual knife switch or lever 29 between the same in a well known manner to form a contact or break the same.

From the foregoing it will be seen that a simple, strong and durable device has been provided for use in connecting line wires or terminals of the same to various electrical devices and that uniform pressure may be obtained to form a good contact throughout the exposed portion of the said wires and without danger of damaging the same.

l Vhat is claimed is 1. An electrical connecter comprising a body member formed of conducting material and having a bore or passageway formed therein for the reception of a wire or wires, said bore or passageway being of elliptical form in cross section and having an aperture in its upper wall, a longitudinally disposed clamp plate located in the upper portion of the bore or passageway, an upstanding pin carried by the clamp plate and extending through the aperture to prevent lateral or longitudinal movement of said plate, and a set screw or screws threaded through said upper wall and adapted to bear upon the plate to effectively clampthe wire or wires in the bore or passageway.

2. An electrical connecter comprising a body member having a bore or passageway formed longitudinally therein and constituting a socket, said socket having a smooth aperture and one or more threaded apertures formed through its upper wall and the bore being higher than wide, a clamp plate extending substantially the full length of the bore, said plate being convex on its upper face to conform to the upper wall of the socket and having its lower face transversely concaved from end to end to gather and clamp the strands of a stranded wire in coaction with the bottom of the bore, a guide pin mounted in the upper face of the plate and loosely traversing the said smooth aperture to prevent dislodgment of the plate from the bore and permit'clampin-g action of the same, and set screws threaded in the said threaded apertures to bear on the plate to force the same down upon the wire at the bottom of the bore.

8. An electrical connecter for joining the ends of two wires or the'like comprising a body member of elongated form and having a longitudinal bore of elliptical shape, the upper wall of the latter having a plurality of apertures, a clamp plate of substantially equal length with the bore and located longitudinally in the upper portion thereof, the

' lower face of the plate being transversely arcuate and adapted to coact with the bottom of the bore to clamp the ends of stranded or 10 other wires, a guide pin carried by the plate and loosely traversing one of the apertures through the wall of the bore to prevent dislodgment of the plate when disconnected from a wire or wires, and set screws threaded through the other apertures and bearing upon the upper face of the plate to force the latter down upon-the wire or wires.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afiixed my signature.

JASPER BENNETT TELFORD. 

